Corning Stays Upbeat on LCDs

Corning (GLW Quote) said Friday that it continued to see strength in U.S. liquid crystal television display sales in the first five months of 2008.

The Corning, N.Y., glass and ceramic products maker said that view reinforces its forecast that the global LCD glass market will grow at the upper end of its original 25% to 30% year-over-year estimate this year.

"So far this year, we are not seeing evidence of the economic downturn impacting our forecasted growth," said Corning CFO James Flaws. "In fact, the evidence we have shows that May LCD TV sales in the U.S. increased nearly 50% over a year ago."

Flaws added that Corning cannot guarantee that retail sales will remain resistant to economic pressures, but the strength of TV sales to date is consistent with consumers' behavior during the last three recessions.

Three weeks ago, Corning said it still expects second-quarter earnings to fall in a range of 47 cents to 50 cents a share, excluding items, on sales between $1.71 billion and $1.75 billion. Those results would meet Wall Street's expected earnings of 49 cents a share on revenue of $1.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Corning ended the day down 1.4% at $25.26. Among related stocks, Syntax-Brillian (BRLC Quote) fell 12%, while Alcatel-Lucent (ALU Quote) dropped 4.7%. Cisco (CSCO Quote) slipped 3.5%.